“Watch for Bikes” CAA Campaign Launches Today

Five years ago the City of Toronto and CAA handed out 150,000 “Door Prize cards” (PDF) that included a sticker drivers could put on their side view mirrors to remind them to watch for cyclists and warning them of the dangers of the “door prize.”

Here’s what the old cards looked like:

Today, June 9th, 2010, another “Watch for Bikes” campaign launches in Toronto.

Looking back at the 2005 campaign there was also mention of a 1998 bylaw that requires taxis to be equipped with 3 stickers warning the drivers and passengers to watch for bikes:

Comments

Instead of a “watch for bikes” campaign, we should have a campaign that tells everyone – cyclists and drivers – that bikes are entitled to ride in the lane *outside* the door zone. If drivers didn’t behave agressively towards cyclists who ride outside the door zone, if they gave them ample space when passing, then cyclists wouldn’t feel pressured to hug parked cars and there would be fewer of us at risk of getting the door prize.

Absolutely, Annie. And our mayoral candidates aren’t doing a lick of good (except for Pantalone) in explaining this. In fact, according to them people on bikes are not even supposed to be on major streets.

Rarely a day goes by where I don’t see someone almost taken out by a car door. Sometimes the “door zone” appears to be the path of least resistance, especially when you’re on a Toronto street with streetcar tracks and street parking (a recipe for disaster whether you’re in a car or on a bike). These stickers should be mandatory on all cars, not just cabs, but it’s a good start.